Heatwave attributable deaths and emergency room visits in South Korea

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The frequent heatwave has impacted populations' health in many countries. In 2016 and 2018, extremely high temperatures resulted in 17 and 48 heatstroke deaths and 2,108 and 4,478 emergency room (ER) visits, respectively, during the heatwave in South Korea. Because the reported number of heatstroke deaths is only a part of total deaths and ER visits associated with high temperature, we aimed to estimate attributable deaths and ER visits during heatwave episodes. METHODS: We linked mortality, ER visit, and meteorological data in 16 regions in South Korea and estimated relative risk at or above a threshold of maximum temperature during summer using generalized linear regression models after controlling for temporal confounders. We computed overall deaths and cause-specific ER visits attributable to the heatwave in 2006-2018. RESULTS:With 1.9% (95% Confidence intervals [CI], 1.3%, 2.4%) increase in all-cause mortality per 1°C increase in concurrent day’s maximum temperature during summer, this study estimates 413 and 1,017 all-cause deaths associated with heatwaves in 2016 and 2018, respectively. We also observed more than 6,000 ER visits attributable to the heatwave in 2016, including 277 for kidney disease. CONCLUSIONS:This study addresses attributable heatwave deaths and ER visits in South Korea and illustrates that the reports of heatstroke deaths and ER visits seriously underestimate the health impacts of heatwaves. Our findings may enable the implementation and reinforcement of government- and individual-level management strategies for heatwaves. KEYWORDS: health impact, heatstroke, heatwave, high temperature